Queen of Fire
by Rose Tattoo
Summary: **UPDATE CHAPTER 2**Long before Freeza destroyed Vegittasei, a child was born to abandonment and blessed by fire. She is Astrid and this is her story. this is the tale of the future Queen of Vegittasei, the mother of Vegeta.
1. birth

Lady of the Fire  
  
Welcome to my newest fic! Yes I'm starting another one. As you've seen from the summary this is not a B/V romance (gasp) yes, I'm starting a completely new thingy here, staring Vegeta's mommy! Yep this is it, for all those of you wondering what really happened before the destruction of Vegittasei, here's my take on it so if we can have a drum roll please.(drum roll) DISCLAIMER TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Disclaimer: don't own dbz but the plot is mine along with the character Astrid and any other new characters you encounter whose names are listed at the end of each chapter  
  
Chapter 1 The birth  
  
"All right now push.that's it, you're doing fine Kaliana.you there, bring more rags here." the motherly voice of the midwife was soothing despite its commanding edge. The middle-aged woman sat at the foot of a small bed in a room lit by a single oil lamp on a bedside table. The room was small and the yellow lamp cast dark shadows over everything surrounding the bed. This was by no means the best place for a baby to be born. A baby needed light and comfort and warmth, even if it was a Saiya-jin. This coming brat would get nothing. That was certain. Already the midwife knew the mother would die. She could tell the woman lying in the bed had nothing to live for, no hope, not even the will to carry on for her brat. The midwife knew this woman well-in fact she was the one who brought her into this world-she knew her mate was dead and that alone would kill the will to live in the strongest being.  
  
Kaliana bit her lip, drawing blood.but suppressing the scream as more birthing pains washed over her. Saiya-jin women were supposed to be strong in any condition. That was the "new image" now. You couldn't even show you were hurting in childbirth, just one of the many new edicts the King sent out. You couldn't show any weakness. To show weakness was to be weak. But to Kaliana everything was a weakness now. Walking down the street and turning a corner to avoid a gang of thugs was a weakness, helping your neighbor take food into her house was a weakness, visiting your dead mate's grave was a weakness, screaming out while giving birth was a weakness.  
  
"Yeah well make the King give birth and let him see how it fits in the weakness category," Kaliana growled savagely, giving another hard push. The midwife looked up, a shocked expression on her face.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing," Kaliana shook her head. She gritted her teeth and cursed Freeza in her mind. Ever since the King signed the treaty joining the Saiya-jin Empire to Freeza's, the lizard had filled the king's head with outrageous ideas about how Saiya-jins were supposed to act. Complete bullshit. Everyone knew Freeza was manipulating the King, but because the King trusted Freeza, no one could do a thing about it. Freeza practically ruled both empires, the King was just a front to keep the stupid ones loyal. But Kaliana wasn't stupid, she could see clearly who held the reigns of power and it was even clearer where he would take the Saiya-jin Empire. Her mate knew it too, and he never would have let this brat be born into this world if he was still alive. A month before the general signs of pregnancy began to show on Kaliana, her beloved mate was killed on a purging mission. For a second-class soldier her mate was one of the strongest.but it didn't matter when he was sent on a mission meant for elites. He and his whole squad were completely ripped apart. Kaliana pushed back the fresh tears of anguish as she remembered the day she had to identify the body of her mate. If he were still alive he would have insisted Kaliana get an abortion and spare the brat the pain of living under Freeza's rule but with her mate gone she couldn't go through with it. She needed something to remember her beloved mate.but now, as the birthing pains got worse by the second, she knew the brat would exist in remembrance of both parents. Kaliana would not see the end of this night.  
  
With one more push and an unbidden scream escaping her bloody lips, the brat was expelled from her tired body. Kaliana lay numb and mindless on the bed, her breath coming in shallow gasps, which paused for a moment in shock when the midwife placed a light bundle in her arms. Kaliana came spinning back to reality. She sat up and stared blankly at the bundle just handed to her by the midwife, who silently left the room, shutting the door silently her to give mother and daughter some privacy. The midwife retreated to the kitchen to prepare a nutritional supplement for the newborn. The mother would not be able to provide food for the brat.  
  
The brat was female. One look at her face was all the proof one needed. She was beautiful.no.much more than beautiful. A copper brown tail reached out from under the folds of the blanket and wound itself around her mother's wrist. For the first time in a long while, Kaliana smiled. Short spiky locks of fiery red hair clung down to the base of her skull but a portion of soft strait hair framed the right side of her little face and curling under her chin. Her skin was pale, almost the color of death and her eyes were sharply pointed, like her fathers, but instead of gray like her father's, her eyes were ebon black, blacker than midnight with no moon or stars, blacker than space. Kaliana tucked a stray strand of hair behind her brat's ear and on closer inspection of her head realized the strand was black. 'She has black streaks in her hair!' Kaliana's smile broadened as she hugged the bundle close. The numbness was returning, stronger than before. Kaliana didn't have much time left in the living world.  
  
The brat, seeming to sense her mother's ki rapidly decreasing, started whimpering and clutched at the thin material of her mother's white silk nightgown, tears springing to her eyes and a cry threatening to escape from her perfect little lips. Kaliana weakly rocked the brat back and forth in an attempt to calm it down but to no avail.  
  
The high-pitched squalling of the brat filled the whole house. The midwife immediately came running back into the bedroom and stood beside Kaliana, who looked so pale and fragile in the lamplight. It was a miracle the birth was completed.  
  
"The brat knows you will die soon," the midwife said, gently caressing the brat's cheek in an unsuccessful attempt to sooth it. Kaliana smiled still through the numbness.  
  
"Let her name be Astrid," Kaliana whispered, the name coming out of nowhere. Then, with the last of her strength, she reached up and clasped a silver chain that hung around her neck and tugged hard. The chain snapped and came away with her hand. Dangling from the chain was Kaliana's family crest, given to her by her mate before the Joining Ceremony. The pendant itself was nothing special, just a small piece of metal in the shape of a shield adorned with a silver bird rising in flight, wings spread wide in sharp points of silver.  
  
Kaliana slipped the chain over her brat's head and fastened it behind her slender neck.  
  
"Make sure that pendant stays with her.it's the only gift I can give her," Kaliana gasped for air and clutched her baby tight. She bent her head and planted a soft kiss on Astrid's forehead before she leaned back into the pillows. Kaliana's eyes fluttered closed and the grip on her baby loosened.  
  
Astrid started crying even louder. The midwife reached down and picked up the brat but a fierce growl made her hand snap back. Suddenly the oil lamp on the bedside table burst into flames, glass shards flew in all directions, cutting the midwife and the dead body of Kaliana but the brat remained unscathed.  
  
The flames consumed the bedside table within seconds and soon converged on the bed, swallowing the sheets and spitting out ash. The midwife backed away in shock. A brief stab of guilt shot through her. She should have reached for the brat. Maybe if she had been quicker it wouldn't have died in the sudden fire.  
  
She looked to the burning bed, her brow creased with regret. She was about to turn and run out of the little house when something moved amid the flames.  
  
Suddenly, the little brat Astrid floated up out of the fire, a blood red aura mimicking the flames surrounded her. The bed fire leaped and danced below her, feasting on the flesh of her mother and seeming to reach up and praise the newborn daughter for the gift. The midwife screamed in fear and inched closer to the door, her back hugging the wall. Astrid let out a shrill scream and the fire shrunk back and suddenly dimmed at the sound. The midwife stood in awe as the brat screamed again and the flames were extinguished completely. Astrid hovered down and landed on a soft bed of ashes, the remains of the bed, and the charred bones of her mother.  
  
The midwife, regaining her composure, slowly walked towards the baby. She was surprised to see it yawn luxuriously and immediately fall asleep. The midwife inched closer and reached out a trembling hand. She touched the sleeping brat's cheek again and found it slick with sweat. A maternal instinct taking over, the midwife gathered up the sleeping brat and carried it out of the room. The brat would need a home, willing parents, food.  
  
On that note the midwife entered the small kitchen. A baby bottle was warming on the stove and a can of nutrition formula powder was sitting on the counter. The older woman gently laid the brat down beside the can of powder and turned off the stove. The brat would not be needing the bottle while sleeping.  
  
The midwife turned her head to look at the brat. She was beautiful beyond question with her pale skin and black streaked hair. Her tiny hands clutched at the pendant her mother had given her and a small scowl formed on her lips. If the midwife had a scouter handy she would have immediately rushed the brat to the elite section of town and let them train her to be a Royal Guard. Though only just born, Astrid held an incredible power level, that rivaled even that of the newly born Prince.  
  
But the midwife did not have a scouter and the very next morning, took the little brat to the second class orphanage to be kept there until she was old enough to be sent on purging missions. The incident with the fire the night before was kept secret for fear the orphanage would not take in such a destructive brat.  
  
And thus, the young brat Astrid spent the first five years of her life at the second class orphanage, fighting for dominance and food among the other females and succeeding very well. The adults running the facility were shocked at Astrid's fighting capabilities and her indomitable will to survive. Newborns brought into the orphanage often died in their first week stay but not this brat. This brat was strong, everyone could see it, even the other children, and that is why no one tried to chase after her when she ran away.  
  
  
  
Okay there's the prologue. What did everybody think? Like it? Hate it? Review and give me some info.  
  
Please  
  
Pretty pleas  
  
With sugar and cream and cherries and cream soda and a million dollars.no wait.I don't have that much.  
  
I'm getting carried away aren't i?  
  
I think I need to sign in to Review Addicts Annonymous. 


	2. runaway

I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes I'm alive, and I've finally updated! Here's chapter 2 of Lady of Fire. I'll be updating all my other fics soon as well and there will be some major surprises in store for everything!  
  
Disclaimer: don't own dbz.plot, Astrid, Eris and Rasha are mine  
  
Chapter 2 Runaway  
  
Astrid yawned lazily as she sat up in the small cot the orphanage had provided her. It was about seven o'clock in the morning and everyone else was asleep. She stretched her arms out and up above her head, smiling in content when se heard her shoulders pop. The early morning sun was shining through the small window right beside Astrid's bed. It was the only thing the girl liked about the orphanage, her window. In the morning before breakfast she would just sit there on her bed and look out into the streets of Vegittasei. There was always something going on no matter how early it was.  
  
A few weeks before, the whole city was in an uproar, the young prince had come home successful from his first purging mission. It only took him three weeks to destroy the entire planet on his own. 'Someday I'll be like that,' Astrid thought as the memory of the Royal Caravan traveling through the streets re-entered her mind. The streets were completely packed, never had Astrid seen so many people. And they were all cheering and yelling, everyone looked so happy.'They'll look even happier when I parade through the streets. Everyone will be cheering my name and the whole universe will see that I am the best warrior who ever lived!'  
  
A smile crept across the young girl's face, but it slowly faded. She'd have to get out of this place before she could go on purging missions. And the orphanage never consider any child leaving until they reached the age of ten. Astrid couldn't wait that long.  
  
"Good morning Astrid! Why look so sad?" Astrid turned at the familiar voice. It was Eris, her one and only friend. Eris was smiling as she plopped down beside Astrid on the bed and gave her a big hug. "Not be sad Astrid!"  
  
Eris was a year younger than Astrid with long spiky black hair and strange golden eyes that always had dark bags under them no matter how much she slept. Her tail was dark dark brown, almost black and never stopped twitching. Astrid had met her about two years ago when she was being picked on by the bully Rasha, who just happened to be Astrid's arch rival in the ever constant struggle for dominance. Rasha was teasing Eris about the color of her eyes, and if there was one thing Astrid hated most in the world was people getting picked on because of how they looked. Eris was also very weak and had a ki level of about ten. She was an easy target, but when Astrid jumped to her defense everything changed. No one dared pick on her again for fear of Astrid's wrath.  
  
Astrid smiled at Eris, the girl was strange, emotional and was never mean or competitive. She didn't even like to fight, but she was a good friend and Astrid loved her like a sister. "I'm not sad Eris," she reassured her friend. "I just want out."  
  
Eris sighed, "Eris want out too Astrid.but now Eris want food. Come eat with Eris Astrid!" the younger girl jumped off the bed and grabbed Astrid's arm and proceeded to drag the older girl to the mess hall. Astrid gave in immediately and allowed her to be pulled.  
  
The mess hall was crowded with brats. They knew the morning routine well enough to be left alone without adult supervision. Wake up. Eat. Train. Three simple steps.  
  
Astrid growled at a group of younger brats who were standing beside the tray table. They whimpered and quickly scurried away, their tails dragging lifelessly behind them. Astrid suddenly felt a sharp tug on her hair.  
  
"Don't be mean to little kids Astrid! Not nice!" Astrid rolled her eyes but nodded. Eris would have a lot to learn before she was let out into the real world. In all honesty Astrid was worried that Eris wouldn't make it in the real world. If she couldn't handle bullies, how would she handle defending armies on a purging mission? But Astrid wouldn't worry about that. 'Maybe Eris could work in the machine place with the real smart people. Eris is real smart.smarter than me.'  
  
Today's breakfast was what the grown-ups called Nutrition Supplement 409, roughly translated: dried Colar meat cut into thin strips. No one liked it, but Astrid ate it, it was food after all.  
  
Eris and Astrid piled their trays high with the red meat strips and took their seats at the table by the window. There was something about windows that Astrid really liked. If she looked out a window long enough she could forget where she was and just watch the passers by live their lives. Sometimes she would make up stories about who the people were and where they were going. Sometimes she would tell these stories to Eris.  
  
"Oooh oooh! Look Eris!" Astrid exclaimed as she pointed a finger towards a short man in a black cloak and hood. Eris looked in the direction of Astrids finger.  
  
"What what Astrid? Tell Eris.please." a sly smile spread on Astrid's face.  
  
"Promise not to tell anyone?" she asked in a whisper.  
  
"Uh hu uh hu, Eris promise!"  
  
Astrid slid colder to Eris and cupped an hand over her mouth and whispered into her friend's ear. "He's a wizard."  
  
Eris giggled loudly and shook her head. "He's not wizard, silly Astrid, no such thing," but Astrid nodded her head vigerously.  
  
"There is such thing as wizards Eris. One just walked by! I know because I saw him casting a spell," Astrid pronounced proudly, crossing her arms over her chest and sticking her chin high in the air. Of course she hadn't really seen him cast a spell, but Eris didn't need to know that.  
  
Eris' jaw dropped. "Astrid saw him cast spell? Wow, Astrid really special to see wizard cast spell!" Astrid smiled, she had her friend hooked. Now all she had to do was figure out what spell the "wizard" was casting.it had to be really good or else Eris wouldn't go for it.  
  
But Eris had ideas of her own. "Maybe wizard cast spell to get you out Astrid."  
  
"What?" Astrid stared shocked at her friend. But before she could say anything Eris continued.  
  
"Yes Astrid it must be! Wizard know how sad Astrid is and want to help! Cast spell to set Astrid free! Astrid can leave now!" a wide grin formed on her face and Eris smiled at her friend.  
  
Astrid sat still as stone. Leave? Just get up and leave? No, she couldn't do that.could she? "No Eris! The "wizard" didn't cast a spell to get me out. The wizard wasn't even a wizard!" she yelled, but Eris wasn't listening.  
  
Suddenly her tone became very serious, the smile dropped from her face and her golden eyes locked with Astrid's dark ones. "Astrid sad here, not happy. Astrid should leave. Astrid run away."  
  
Astrid's mouth hung open in shock. Eris was never serious, about anything, ever. This was a new change, but it meant Eris was right. Astrid wasn't happy here, and if she didn't get out she would end up losing her mind. "Eris.I can't leave.if I do they'll find me and-" but to her surprise Eris cut her off.  
  
"No grown ups here in morning Astird. Astrid safe to leave now."  
  
"I can't leave you Eris. You're my best friend. And if I leave Rasha will pick on you." Eris reached over and grabbed Astrid's hand and squeezed it.  
  
"Eris be okay. Meanie Rasha leave Eris alone. Eris smart, Rasha stupid!" both she and Astrid laughed at this. Astrid smiled, Eris was finally growing a backbone. But still, Eris' idea made sense. If she left now she wouldn't get caught and Eris needed to learn how to fend for herself. It would work out good for both of them.  
  
Astrid smiled, it was the first time in weeks since she felt completely happy. She would run away, and she would become the best purger in the universe. 'Maybe when I'm grown I'll challenge the price and get to be queen!' she liked that idea, then she could do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted and maybe she'd even be able to get Eris out too.  
  
"Alright Eris, I'll do it! Right now! But I'll come back for you Eris, and then we'll both live in the palace together!"  
  
Eris gasped. "Is Astrid sure? Astrid and Eris live in big pretty palace?" Astrid nodded.  
  
"Yep, once they see how strong I am, we'll both live there and never have to worry about any bullies!"  
  
"Hurray!" Eris jumped up and gave Astrid a big bear hug, almost cutting off her air supply. Astrid smiled though, and for the first time, returned the hug. She would miss her friend terribly, though she would never admit it, she was a Saiya-jin after all. And a Saiya-jin with goals now.  
  
"I'm gonna sneak out the back door.goodbye Eris, we'll see each other again, I promise!" Eris reached out and grabbed Astrid's hand again.  
  
"Pinkie promise Astrid. Astrid see Eris again," Eris held out her pinkie and Astrid linked it with hers.  
  
"Pinkie promise!" Eris smiled and gave her best friend one last hug (aww cute little kid moment ^-^) .  
  
Astrid stood up and quickly stuffed a few pieces of meat into her mouth and chewed vigerously. She couldn't run away on an empty stomach, could she? Then without looking back, she ran out of the large mess hall and sprinted to the back of the building where an open door and freedom were waiting.  
  
Eris sat down at the table and took all the leftover meat off Astrid's trey and dumped it on her own, she was always hungry. Astrid would be happy now, she knew it. And she also knew she would see her again. That was why she didn't say goodbye to her. They would meet again some day, and now Eris had her own life to live, she was smart, and like Astrid, she would survive.  
  
Whooo! I actually ended on a happy note, I'm shocked! But oh well, hope everybody liked it! Review and tell me what you think. In the next chapter, Astrid isn't the only one who ran away from home. She meets up with the prince and a bunch of other people. I won't tell you any more than that but I will update soon. Again I apologize to everybody for taking so long.  
  
Until next time,  
  
Jan e! 


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